Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Ok I am not real sure how to state this but my ex-wife and I share custody of our 2 children, I pay her leagle court ordered child support and I also pay for the two kids medical Ins. which is also court ordered throught the attorny general of texas. My ex-wife has a job that has medical benifits so they take the medical support out of her check and then the attorney general reimberses her the amount that I pay. My children have been under my last name since birth and I am on there birth records as the father, I recently called there doctor to see if they were due for there eye exams and to make sure the ins. was all still the same and they told me that the coverage had been droped and all they show is dental and then that both of my kids lastnames had changed and are now in fact her new husbands last name. I had them print me out a copy of the information on the ins. I have called the attorney general but no one can really give me a real answer on what to do. I mean I am not a rich man I can not afford an attorney to take her to court and I have tired leagal add and do not qualify. I need help on what to do, or where to start. I know what she is doing is illegal but not sure how to approch it.


Asked on 5/03/11, 7:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Thomas Daley KoonsFuller PC

If you don't qualify for Legal Aid, then contact the Texas Legal Services Center (www.tlsc.org).

In the mean time, go to the courthouse and ask to look at the file in your divorce case. Any adoption/termination action would be filed there, if that's what she did.

You can also contact the Texas Department of Vital Statistics and ask for a copy of your kids' birth-certificates to see if the last names have been changed there. If they have been, then she really pulled a hateful trick on you and you're going to need an attorney to undo it.

If she did not fraudulently do a termination/adoption, then she must just be telling everyone that the kids have a different last name and it could be that the kids are now on the step-father's health insurance.

What you can do is file a motion to enforce child support against your wife, because apparently in the final decree she was ordered to maintain health insurance on the children. Filing a suit is the best way to get to the bottom of what is going on in this case.

She may just be using a new last name to get the kids on the step-father's insurance. Or she may have done something far more sinister. You'll need to do what I suggested above in order to find out what has happened.

Good luck!!

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Answered on 5/03/11, 8:18 am


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